#did salem pull a hua cheng with that feather ? yes

[intcritus]

❛  you can do whatever you want to me.  ❜ //Marvin @ Salem

how many times had salem heard marvin say those words to them ? and how many times had the avian happily took those words to heart. now though, it's nothing sexual, but even more intimate. they sit in his lap, in just the equine's shirt and sheer thigh-highs adoring their legs. chin is taken in hand, a kiss pressed to that pretty mouth, something slow, meaningful, deep. where they can slowly savor marvin in all his beauty, can fully taste the man who so happily claims them.

after a long moment, salem pulls back, delighting in the way marvin's eyes are closed, his tongue licking over his mouth as if savoring their taste. a low, pleased trill escapes them, mouth easing into a tender smile. mismatched gaze trails down throat to marvin's chest where their hand presses over heart. they've contemplated this plenty of times, where they claim someone to be theirs, to mark them. salem would've happily danced around, some silly mating thing that they know marvin would've loved, but this moment feels different, something more permanent, something marvin can be entrusted with.

the fire within their veins brightens just beneath their skin, fingertips dancing in colorful, vibrant flames like a kaledioscope of colors on a empty canvas. and those fingers press into marvin's skin, shoulder and down to his right pectoral, a faint burn ( nothing more than a warming sensation ) and the phoenix traces over the path over and over like a paintbrush to canvas until one could see hues of blues and greens entwining into a feather.

❝ ━ i trust you. and i love you so much, and i don't plan on choosing another other than you. ❞ salem had never attempted this but it felt right. a watery smile curves their lips, blinking away tears before they could bother to gather in lashes, ❝ ━ i planned on rocking your world, but this seemed like the right time to give you a part of me, so you never have to worry about whether you own every part of me. ❞ there are no words to impose the gravity of said feather etched into marvin's flesh, even if their final life cycle came, salem never had to worry about a thing, because the best and most important part of him would always belong to marvin.

in which the phoenix marks their partner for life. | @nvrcmplt